i just got a macbook

[t0yrobo]

Agreed about versiontracker, it's the easiest place to find stuff by far. namely is also really nice to have. If you need anything from windows, or any other os for that matter virtualbox runs pretty well for anything that doesn't need 3d acceleration. But if you just have a regular macbook, well the 3d cars in those suck anyways so I wouldn't worry about it. A lot of people i go to school with run Rhino (3d modeling) through virtualbox and it does pretty well. It's not as responsive but overall it's very usable still.
i just like to keep people from getting to enamored with their macs because they very much aren't the wonder machines people like to make them out to be. Mines been into the apple store twice in the last month, and seeing people with them at school I see them acting up all the time. They aren't that superior to a windows machine with proper care, but if you play the way apple wants you to they work just fine.
But yeah, you've heard enough of my opinions. If you mainly use just CS stuff like you said you won't have any big problems.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

When I got my MBP I went through a 2 step process.
1: Realize how much the software selection for macs sucks, especially freeware and games
2: Install Windows, get mac drive for windows, and ntfs 3g for osx. Then you can switch between the two and still be able to use all your files.
Personally I use windows all the time because there's a ton of programs that I use that are windows only and not everything runs that great in virtualbox. But if I just need it to start up fast so I can do something quick I use os x.

I second this. Sorry as awesome as Mac OS is... the software selection is utter crap, and I couldnt even put windows on it since mine is a PBG4. Right now Im using my IBM which dispite being technically inferior I have more new and old games and software to play with and use simply because thats what 85% of the entire world uses. Another thing is you pay about 700 dollars more to get the brand name apple. Which is complete buuulllll shit. I think Apple would be a complete contender if they didnt need to make a 45% profit margine.

[Niode]

I second this. Sorry as awesome as Mac OS is... the software selection is utter crap, and I couldnt even put windows on it since mine is a PBG4. Right now Im using my IBM which dispite being technically inferior I have more new and old games and software to play with and use simply because thats what 85% of the entire world uses. Another thing is you pay about 700 dollars more to get the brand name apple. Which is complete buuulllll shit. I think Apple would be a complete contender if they didnt need to make a 45% profit margine.

Complete utter myths. Find a 1inch thick laptop with the same specs as the Macbook or Macbook Pro with the same amount of software that it comes with.

Versiontracker has thousands of apps for mac. I've yet to come across an application that I need for Mac that I can't use. Whereas there are a few apps that I use that just don't exist for windows.

Also on the 'theres only 3 decent ftp apps for os x'. Why do you need more than 1? If Cyberduck isn't satisfactory for you then I'm not quite sure what you want an FTP client to do. Cyberduck beats the shit out of any of the free FTP clients for Win, even some of the paid/nagware clients for Win. CuteFTP/Smartftp are clunky and just don't work as well or as intuitive as Cyberduck does, plain and simple.

Also, get Appdelete for OS X. Instead of dragging applications to trash to uninstall (all this does is delete it's package contents and entries in your ~user/library/appname folder from the hard drive) Appdelete will delete all links, symbolic and otherwise from your hard drive. So you don't clutter up your library folder, there's nothing worse than not knowing where your hard drive space has gone and finding your ~system/library is clogged full of shit that you don't even need/use anymore.

[khyrox]

I love my Macbook Pro. I've had mine for about 2 years now and it's been great. I'm a big fan of Mac OS X and its UI, and based on what I use it for it's been fine for me. I'm a multiple OS guy so I've also got Vista running via Boot Camp, and VMWare Fusion for anything else.

Generally I use my Macbook when I travel so it's mostly for internet access, managing the bazillion photos I take on my trips, some Photoshop, watching media on the go / media transcoding, etc. It's not a heavy games machine but I've loaded it up with a ton of emulators.

Some handy items:

Perian - enables support of a variety of video formats for Quicktime
VLC - Media Player
Handbrake - video transcoder

Also, install the XCode development tools and you can compile the latest SDLMAME for all that MAME goodness... it's a piece of cake. I think it's at .129u5 right now?

[Niode]

P.S. for the person complaining that iTunes doesn't support a lot of formats. Installing Perian will solve that issue. iTunes uses Quicktime components for playing all media formats. So whatever QT supports iTunes supports also.

[vash23n]

P.S. for the person complaining that iTunes doesn't support a lot of formats. Installing Perian will solve that issue. iTunes uses Quicktime components for playing all media formats. So whatever QT supports iTunes supports also.

i use itunes for everything and havent had any issues... i know there are probably various strange formats out there that i dont use since i use the macbook mainly for standard crap. and i dont understand the price thing either... macbooks are $700 more than pc stuff... i think my macbook was a little over $700 and i got a free ipod nano. they ALWAYS have sales and specials, especially if you are a student. my wife was a student so we just used her email address and put her occupation as student. i guess the price goes up if you add all sorts of fancy stuff, but it does for a pc also... guess it just comes down to preference.

[wip3outguy7]

Congrats on your new mac. I've been a mac user for a couple of years now. Don't let the haters get you down. OS X is the most stable out-of-the-box OS on the market today.

Apple's support is unrivaled, too. I had a hard drive replaced once and it was as simple as making an appointment for a local apple store, going to the apple store, waiting 3 hours and going home with a working macbook. No 3 to 4 weeks waiting on my notebook to return, no fighting with technical support over the phone to get my product back from repair.

I don't game on my mac, that's what I have consoles for. There is shittons of freeware out there for macs. You just have to look for it. And if you are willing to dive deeper into the Apple world, the connectivity between apple products is awesome.

[marurun]

I had this epiphany today at work. This applies for people who use their computer for basic tasks. You know, internet, email, movies, music, etc. Anything that's platform agnostic.

Apple is the Abercrombie & Fitch of the computer world. You're overpaying for the privilage of having a specific brand name. And they try and sell you on this slick and cool image.

I'm going to contest this view. Considering what you get you don't overpay. Apple isn't in the budget computer market. They do overcharge for upgrades, but if you buy a base model and upgrade the HD or RAM yourself they are price-competitive with equivalent PC laptops (equivalent, not budget.)

Mac users will also notice that Apple doesn't put much programming effort into their Windows software. iTunes on Windows kinda performs like a dog, but on the Mac it's great. It's kinda too bad.

[vash23n]

I had this epiphany today at work. This applies for people who use their computer for basic tasks. You know, internet, email, movies, music, etc. Anything that's platform agnostic.

Apple is the Abercrombie & Fitch of the computer world. You're overpaying for the privilage of having a specific brand name. And they try and sell you on this slick and cool image.

I'm going to contest this view. Considering what you get you don't overpay. Apple isn't in the budget computer market. They do overcharge for upgrades, but if you buy a base model and upgrade the HD or RAM yourself they are price-competitive with equivalent PC laptops (equivalent, not budget.)

Mac users will also notice that Apple doesn't put much programming effort into their Windows software. iTunes on Windows kinda performs like a dog, but on the Mac it's great. It's kinda too bad.

and windows does the same, for example windows media player on the mac sucks ass... they havent released a new version and dont plan to.

[MrPopo]

But that's ok, since both pieces of software are horrible. MPC and Winamp all the way.